


A Perfect Hero

by verboseDescription



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Amnesia, Anxiety, Character Study, Internalized Homophobia, Kinda, tdlr: the gods control too much of life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5021335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verboseDescription/pseuds/verboseDescription
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason has always tried to live up to everyone's expectations but no matter how hard he tries, he doesn't think he'll ever be the kind of champion Juno wanted him to be</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Perfect Hero

When Jason Grace is born, the earth trembles at the thought of things to come. If he had the kind of mother that told stories, she might have told him it was because he was destined for greatness so large that even a small budding flower could see.

But he has no mother. Just Lupa, who didn’t believe in lying to children.

She told him that the only thing coming was the fury of Juno, who was seething just thinking about her husband’s new mortal son. But, she told him, Jupiter knew how to deal with his wife and her wrath, and so they struck a deal.

Which was why by age three Jason was aware if his place in the world with the kind of resignation expected in a man decade’s older.

 

There are many things Jason was expected to do, and so he tried to do as many of them as possible. It’s exhausting. Very soon, he realizes that being the campion of Juno and the son of Jupiter is like being a star football player and a straight A student. While everyone in New Rome looked at him with a mixture of envy and amazement, he spent the majority of his energy making sure he didn’t collapse from stress, or exhaustion. But because no one knew about the latter half, Jason seemed godly and unapproachable to the majority of the demigods who saw him.

_He’s too important to want to hang out with someone like us,_ everyone would think to themselves, _Surely he’s got something better to do._

But Jason didn’t. The only thing he had was the constant feeling of impending doom that comes with people constantly looking at you as if you’re destined to save the world from unimaginable danger.

He’s sure he’s going to, some day. Juno wouldn’t let her only hero live his life unnoticed.

But all he is then is a lonely child.

It’s not as if he never talked to anyone, of course. He was polite to most everyone, and so they were polite back. So when one of the daughters of Venus goes through a nail polish faze, she offers to paint lightning bolts on his. He agrees, but ends up chipping it off the next day.

He doesn’t tell her that when he got to his room he had started hyperventilating once he realizes Juno probably wouldn’t approve. He knows that most people considered nail polish girly, which means it’s not worthy of someone like him. He needs to be a _hero_ after all.

He doesn’t tell her that he scratched his nails so hard they almost bled when he tried to get the paint off. He tells her it came off during training and she frowns like that makes it his fault, and harbors a grudge against him for several years.

They don’t become friends.

 

But he does make friends, When Jason is thirteen, he meets Reyna. She’s smart and strong and when someone asks her why she’s in America because she belongs in Mexico her response is to say, “I don’t know, why do you have a black eye?”

And then she punches him in the face, the first in a string of events that show she’s unable to tolerate any hatred and make her just as unapproachable as Jason. As soon as he realizes it, the two of them start hanging out.

He doesn’t tell her it, but she’s his first real friend. He’s never really hung out with other kids before, so they end up spending most of their time together training.

Reyna doesn’t have a problem with it, but one day she makes a joke about how odd their friendship is.

“Don’t you ever want to talk about normal friend stuff?” She asks, “Like… Crushes! See any cute girls lately?”

“You,” He jokes.

“Ha. Alright Mr. Smooth, what about cute boys?”

Jason freezes. He doesn’t think Juno would like it if he talked about cute boys, even if he would, and he knew the gods were always at least somewhat aware of what was going on. Or, at the very least, Juno would have enough time to check in on her new favorite hero from time to time.

“Don’t be ridiculous Reyna,” He says, quick enough to sound like he’s hiding something, but Reyna just shrugs and drops it.

He realizes he might have made her think he was gay, but the whole topic makes him nervous so he says nothing and lets her tell him about her sister.

“This isn’t the life for her,” Reyna sighs, “She’s not the right type of person. But I am, and we both know it. So I came but she didn’t. I’m going to miss her, but I can’t live a life I don’t want, especially if I know there’s something better out there.”

 

And then one day Jason loses his memory. He doesn’t know how he got on a bus, or why some girl thinks he’s her boyfriend. He doesn’t remember enough to think that it’s funny—the only people who had called him “boyfriend” was Reyna, as a joke, and someone who was nice enough to keep it a secret from everyone else.

“You _know_ who I am,” the girl insists, “I’m Piper.”

“I’m not even entirely sure who _I_ am,” He replies, “Sorry.”

The only thing he knows is that he feels stress free. But of course, he doesn’t remember enough to know that this is something rare.

Piper tells him about himself, getting interrupted every so often by her friend Leo to clarify. Jason doesn’t think he’s the kind of person they want him to be, but he figures he might as well try.

The two look at him expectantly. He doesn’t want to disappoint.

 

When Jason meets Cupid/Eros, he learns that Nico is gay and he gets upset. Not at Nico, but at the God of Love.

Secrets are always secrets for a reason. It’s not anyone’s job to spill them. The only one who should get that privilege is Nico.

“I bet you think I’m so _weird_ ,” Nico says, and gives a bitter laugh, “Of course, I was already the freaky Hades kid, so you probably already thought that.”

Jason doesn’t know how he didn’t see it before, but Nico is so _small._ He’s just a kid, of course. He doesn’t need the stress of his father’s legacy.

“I don’t,” Jason replies, “It’s okay, you know? That you, uh, like guys. It’s not wrong. I mean, I can’t really relate, but I know that much at least.”

Cupid tilts his head at Jason and gives him a look that makes Jason feel like the god can see into his soul.

“Juno’s mist still affects you, doesn’t it?” Cupid asks, “I see you don’t even remember who you are.”

“I know exactly who I am,” Jason replies, but even as he says it he knows it’s not true, and he’s not sure that that’s ever been the case.

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually based on a series of headcanons I read a while back. If it sounds like it was yours, please talk to me at my tumblr ofdreamsanddoodles so I can tell you how much you really get this character


End file.
